“Obviously we’re going away really disappointed with the result, but we can’t be disappointed with how we played,” said the midfielder. “The least we deserved was a replay. Going out of the cup is a blow, but the effort, the attitude and the character were excellent.

“We created enough chances and really took the game to Arsenal in the second half, but big moments went against us. “People are talking about us being a top side and rightly so. We need to bounce back quickly - that’s what top sides do after a setback.

“They don’t feel sorry for themselves; they look to the future and focus on getting back to winning ways. The way we’re playing at the moment, we’re a match for anyone. Going forward we look so dangerous and we are creating more than enough chances to win games.”

Martin Skrtel echoed Gerrard’s rallying call and the centre-half wants Liverpool to seize their great chance to qualify for the Champions League for the first time since 2009.

“We were really unlucky and I’m disappointed to lose,” said the Slovakian international. “I think we played really well and maybe we could say we were even better, but the result is all that counts.

“We had some really good chances to score, but we didn’t convert them and this is the result. Now we must be fully focused on the Premier League and I really hope we can do something very positive there.”